It was, for the most part an enjoyable day and as it seems to be difficult to find things aimed at the PA (which is why I started this blog in the first place!) I thought it would be good to write a brief review.  In short – parts of the conference were completely excellent, whilst others not so good.

A PA can be a solitary job, and I certainly felt that way when I arrived at Murrayfield to register. However, I quickly found a new pal (whilst rummaging through my goodybag!) and settled down for the morning’s session.

The morning covered off probably the most interesting topics and covered sessions on leadership, communication and assertiveness, being indispensable and social media.

I particularly enjoyed the session on communication and assertiveness by Isobel McEwan (Innovation and Creativity Consultant, THINK global innovation management) as she had started off her career in 1977 as a PA and could relate how her experience as a PA had helped shape the business woman she is today. One phrase that stuck with me was that “growing old was mandatory but growing up was optional”! It really struck a chord with me as I’ve been feeling my age a bit recently!

I also REALLY enjoyed the social media session by Martin Jordan (Marketing Director, Equator). I must admit that working in social media from my job I was really sceptical about how much I could learn from this session but it really opened my eyes.  I guess I’ve been working on my output of social media for a while and this session was all about THE output of social media and how the PA can use it in everyday work scenarios.  I hadn’t really thought about that before – and although I do use social media a lot, I never really do things like Twitter searches to find out information – this is something I’m going to change and use more to assist me in my PA role.

Lunch was lovely – the conference had organised an exhibition which whilst ridiculously girlie (soap, cupcakes, nails etc) kept the break nice and light.  Whilst chatting with my colleague we both noted that our bosses could have attended the morning session and learnt something.

The afternoon sessions were the let down of the day. One session from Stevenson college on Office Management – which seemed very much to be a lesson for a 16 year old learning to work in an office (at one point the speaker suggested we kept a task list to keep organised!) and one *relaxation* session.  Whilst I understand the intentions of the organisers, these sessions were far too basic and actually slightly patronising.  With the morning session so strong - it was a real shame and something I’ll be passing on to the organisers as feedback

All in all though, I loved the day! It was a welcome break from the office and I really felt like I learned things and reminded myself of others:

• I may be alone in the office but I’m not alone – there are lots of lovely PAs out there
• Growing old is mandatory, growing up is optional
• If you don’t use your training, you’ll lose it
• Social media is not just about you and your circles – it’s everywhere and is valuable research information
• Always have a Plan B.

The conference was organised by MacKay Hannah and the full schedule (although a little out of date) can be found here.

If you went, and have comments, or have any questions about the day, please do comment below.

1. Clothes for work / clothes for home – my work place is fairly casual, and I had rather slipped into casual clothes.  For the last few weeks, I’ve made an effort to dress smartly for work – suits, skirts, smarter shoes etc.  Then, when I get home, I’ve been changing clothes into something more comfortable/ casual.  I find that it helps switch my mind from work to play and brush off the days work.
2. Work email – turn it off! In this day and age of smart phones, it’s all so tempting to check emails / reply to things all the time!  I asked myself – do I need to read my work emails at 20:15 on a Wednesday evening? Apart from when the Fringe is running and it’s 24/7 – I don’t! So! When I get home, along with changing clothes, I switch off my work emails.  My mobile is still on, so if it’s *really* urgent (it never is) my boss can phone. I have no self control – if I didn’t switch them off- I would read them! This means that from the end of work – until when I get in, it’s another switch off from work to play.
3. Day off! Whatever happens (again apart from August!), one day out of seven, I take a day off. No work of any kind!  No work work. No housework either and I try (and this does take effort – which is weird) to relax for just one day.  It just means that I spend a day with myself (and my husband) just chilling.  It’s fun – you should try it!
4. Hobbies / part times – When I first started thinking about this blog post, and then carrying out my own advice.  I suddenly had more time on my hands! It was a little bit weird and I initially filled it with TV watching. Bad move – this makes me so lethargic! So! I’ve started reading again as well as regular exercise (you could write a whole blog post itself on exercise and work) and catching up a little bit more with friends.  There are so many more things I am interested in doing, so I’m hoping to catch up on those over the next few months too.  So, I recommend thinking about things you’d like to have time to do, and as you find yourself with more time, start taking up these things again.

I hope you find the above useful – are there any things you do to help separate the work / life balance not mentioned? Let me know by commenting – I’m always up for new tips!

My most recent post was about the book Julie & Julia by Julie Powell.  An extract of the post is below and if you fancy reading more, and following the website the rest of the post is here.

“The book follows a year in the life of Julie Powell who has decided to make every dish in a recipe book written by Julia Child and to blog about her experiences along the way.  It’s very charming, funny and at times sad and I heartily recommend it!”

Read more.

I have been a little bit worried recently, that I have been developing an over emphasis on *things*. So Hannah’s blogpost came at the right moment for me! The world is so instant these days – books ordered/ downloaded in seconds, films watched online in the same way, clothes ordered and delivered overnight.  But am I happier?! I suspect not and so I’ve decided to go to the next level and so therefore until Easter Sunday (08 April) I am going to go without buying any books, music or clothes.

This will be some challenge for me, I’m particularly good at buying things and since getting a Kindle for Christmas, my book buying is almost out of control. However, like everyone, I already have lots of possessions to keep me occupied: books on my bookshelf waiting to be read; clothes I’ve not worn for ages and; music I’ve not listened to in a while. So, I suspect the next couple of months will be ones of discovery and rediscovery.

My plan is to continue my wonderful list making, and keep track of the things I want – be it books, music or clothes and after Easter Sunday, review the list and see how many things I still want, and how many things I don’t mind about anymore. I might even allow myself a little treat!

I’ve already been tested though! Just last night found a hole in the sole of my favourite slippers!

Are you giving up anything different for Lent? Let me know by commenting below.

Shopping
This is no ordinary list, I used to just write out what I needed when we went for a shop and occaisionally when I had the time, would re-order to the supermarket aisles which helped forgetting stuff or unecessary walking around (which I think increases impulse buys).  But instead this is a tick list of all our staple shopping (bread, cheese, milk etc) with a few add ons. There is of course space for non listed things. We check off what we need and then go over just before heading to the shops. I have tried to order according to our usual supermarket to aide flow through.

Google Doc – Shopping (this is a word doc so view in google docs is distorted)

Weekly Food Plan
This works well in tandem with the shopping list. Before I head to the shops, I plan out the menu for the next seven days and who will cook. At the moment, I’m using this snazzy planner which I got for Christmas from my hubby.

Cleaning
To keep track of cleaning, I have a list of every room in the house, and what needs to be done in each room. It helps me to not cut corners when doing the cleaning and also helps my husband to know my exacting standards!

To Do
I’m very particular about both the paper and pen I use to do a To Do list!   I like a coloured A5 pad (no lines) and a thickish black pen.  I usually write at the weekend and try not to add more than ten things per day! Even then I only ever manage about five – the weekend is for fun right?!

Lightbulbs
For me, a lightbulb dunce this is very important! I  have a list which includes every room of the flat with the lightbulbs needed and the lightbulbs needed with the minimum stock levels – I HATE running out of light bulbs. Saying that, I still need someone to shop for them for me, for despite writing down meticulusly my needs, I always buy the wrong ones!

Google Doc – Lightbulbs

Can’t Sleep
I would say it’s reasonably often that I can’t sleep and when it’s particularly bad, I will write a list. To help me remember but also to remind myself what I’m doing right and ease my mind. It usually consists of
1. What the thing bothering me is
2. What I am doing about it
3. What I can do about it
3. What others can do about it

It’s very simple I know, but helps me relax and teaches me to let go a little too.

Your lists
Anyway, enough from me -  what are your lists? Please do comment below!

sl

• Deja Dead – Kathy Reichs
• Jamrach’s Menagerie – Carol Birch
• The Frozen Lake – Elizabth Edmondson
• Before I Go to Sleep – SJ Watson
• The Last Dragonslayer – Jasper Fforde
• The Song of the Quarkbeast – Jasper Fforde
• The Distant Hours – Kate Morton

My book group and I have set up the webpage edinburghbookgroup.com so I plan to move across my book related posts to this site and try and focus this site somewhat.

Jamrach's Menagerie

Our January book group tackled Jamrach’s Menagerie and we were much surprised to find only one set of book group questions on the internet.  This is despite the fact the book was: on the Richard and Judy Autumn reads; shortlisted for the Booker Prize and; longlisted for the Orange Prize for Fiction. So! We decided to write a list of questions for any other budding book groups out there looking. If you think of any others, please do leave a comment.

Firstly, we found some questions on the WH Smith website and they are:

1. Some parts of the novel are based on real events. Discuss the use of real events in fiction.
2. The novel perfectly captures the world of the nineteenth century. What as a reader do you find most interesting about the setting?
3. One of the most compelling sections of the novel is when Jaffy and the others are adrift. Discuss the moral dilemmas that face them in this situation.
4. Jaffy is a fantastic character, thrown in to unusual situations. Do we see him as the hero of the novel?

I hope WH Smith don’t mind me listing them.

We thought that they could have been simpler so abbreviated them to:

1. What do you think about the fact that the story is centered on two real life events?
2. What do you find the most interesting about the book’s setting?
3. Discuss the moral dilemas that face the characters.
4. Do you see Jaffy as the hero of the novel?

In addition to this we asked:

1. Did you like the book and if so why/why not?
2. What do you think of the title of the book? (as you can see by the title of the blog post we had fun making up new titles!)
3. What do you think about the book cover? (we had two different book covers and we discussed both)
4. What do you think you would have done if you were in a similiar situation?
5. What was the strongest of the five senses throughout the book and why?
6. Do you think it’s a book that men might like reading? (we are all girls in our book group!)

We hope that future book groups find this useful. Let us know!

sl

1. Backwards in High Heels – Tania Kindersley and Sarah Vine
2. The God Delusion – Richard Dawkins
3. Jamrach’s Menagerie – Carol Birch
4. What a Carve Up! – Jonathan Coe
5. The Frozen Lake – Elizabeth Edmondson
6. A Christmas Carol – Charles Dickens
7. The Last Dragonslayer – Jasper
8. The Island – Victoria Hislop
9. Deja Dead – Kathy Reichs
10. Never Let Me Go – Kazuo Ishuguro
11. Microserfs – Douglas Coupland
12. The Seventh Gate – Richard Zimmer

As with previous years once, read I will embolden.

If you’ve made a book list I’d be interested to see, please do comment below.

1. Race of a Lifetime -Mark Halperin and John Heilemann
2. Sister – Rosamund Lupton
3. One Day – David Nichols
4. A Florentine Death – Michele Giuttari
5. The Great Gatsby – F. Scott Fitzgerald (book group pick)
6. Room – Emma Donaghue (book group pick)
7. The Other Hand – Chris Cleave
8. Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand – Helen Simonson
9. The Help – Kathryn Stockett
10. The First Rumpole Omnibus – John Mortimer
11. The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie – Muriel Spark
12. The Lacuna – Barbara Kingsolver
13. When God Was A Rabbit – Sarah Winram (ended up being a book group pick too)
14. Hungry Ghosts – Debbie Taylor
15. The Pleasure Seekers – Tishani Doshi
16. American Gods – Neil Gaiman
17. How to be a Woman – Caitlin Moran
18. America Unchained – Dave Gorman
19. Black and Blue – Anna Quinlan
20. The Quilter’s Apprentice – Jennifer Chiaverini
21. Round Robin – Jennifer Chiaverini
22. Plugged – Eoin Colfer
23. The Cross-Country Quilters – Jennifer Chiaverini
24. The Villa in Italy – Elizabeth Edmondson
25. Steve Jobs – Walter Isaacson
26. Death Comes to Pemberley – PD James

My favourite book – and this surprised me – was the Steve Jobs biography I don’t usually read factual books although find I do enjoy them when I do. Plan to add more factual books for 2012.

Very pleased to have reached 26 books this year and will aim for something similar for 2012. Not so pleased to have read only four from my original list – will improve for this year!

On Tuesday 13 December 2011, he died, peacefully in his sleep.  He was an avid poet, posting many poems from his bed when he was poorly. On his laptop we found a document labelled Farewell which was his last poem, for all to read so I thought I would post on my blog as well as his.

Post Mortem

This poet is not pinin’!
‘E’s passed on!
This poet is no more!
He has ceased to be!
‘E’s expired and gone
to mock ‘is maker!
‘E’s a stiff! Bereft of life,
‘e rests in peace!
If you hadn’t nailed ‘im
to the page
‘e’d be pushing up the daisies!
‘Is metabolic processes are now ‘istory!
‘E’s fallen off the twig!
‘E’s kicked the bucket,
‘e’s shuffled off ‘is mortal coil,
run down the curtain !!
THIS IS AN EX-POET!!

Of course we are very sad to have lost my dad, but are so grateful his death was peaceful and without pain.

Thanks to all my lovely friends for their love and support.

sl

xx